Of Vampire Bugs and Rivers
by Silverstar
Summary: Otherwise known as reasons why it may or may not be a good idea to send one extremely tired brother and another over-excitable one into the rainforest for Survival Training just because the arguments are getting annoying. TAG 2015.
_**Hey guys! So I'm still working on the next multi-chapter story, which should be uploaded either late summer or autumn time, depending on whether where the story-line ends up going. But in the meantime I've got lots of random one-shots (and two-shots) lined up to publish every now and then as proof that I haven't just disappeared.**_

 _ **Remember the last time I tried to write TAG 2015? Well here's the second attempt.**_

* * *

The sunlight streaming through the window promised the day ahead to be a good one. Considering the warm weather and clear skies, free of clouds, it seemed impossible to be annoyed or in a bad mood. The shouts coming from the kitchen with raised voices were clearly attempting to prove this wrong, and for a tired International Rescue operative, it was incredibly irritating.

Raising his head from the nest of pillows he'd attempted to fall asleep on (God knew he needed it – he'd been flying to rescues, saving people and then flying onto the next emergency non stop for the last forty-eight hours), Virgil listened carefully to the furious shouts coming from the kitchen, trying to decide whether to intervene, thus shutting them up, allowing him to get some much needed rest, or to just stay in his room, where he was deemed safe, in the hope that they would stop the shouting themselves. Normally it was easier to stay hidden and hope that Scott would sort it out, but this had been carrying on for the last hour.

"Sit down, for crying out loud Alan."

"Scott! Did you hear what he said to me?"

Oh _fantastic_. Gordon had clearly managed to offend someone yet again. The aquanaut seemed to be able to annoy anyone at any moment in time, a skill that was not appreciated by his siblings.

"Oh come on Allie, I was only pointing out a fact."

"Gordon! Go swimming or something, but for God's sake, get out this damn room!" Scott's patience was clearly wearing thin as he snapped at the second youngest Tracy. Gordon shrugged.

"I've already been for a swim."

"Well then go check on your fish."

"I've already – wait, damn it! I didn't feed them!" Gordon realised aloud, spinning on the spot, and breaking into a sprint out of the kitchen, almost crashing into Kayo, who rolled her eyes.

 _'_ _Boys,'_ she thought with a sigh, before taking a seat at the table and eyeing the food that was laid out there by Grandma Tracy.

"Kayo! What would you like? I could cook you something else if you would prefer?"

Alan sniggered at the horrified look his friend attempted to hide, ducking down to tie up her shoe lace whilst considering her options. As far as she could see, she had three choices:

1) Actually attempt to eat some of the smoking remains that were once edible that were currently lying as if daring her on the table above.

2) Just get something else out of the fridge and hope for the best.

Or

3) Run for her life.

She opted for No. 2, sliding her chair back and pulling open the fridge door with a smile at Grandma.

Meanwhile, in what had once been a very organised room until Gordon had accidentally let paint explode everywhere, Virgil relaxed as the voices died down. Now, perhaps, he would be allowed to rest in peace. Geez, he'd even considered knocking himself out with a sedative at one point, refraining from that only because there was the possibility of a rescue call coming in, and he did not want Gordon getting his hands on Thunderbird 2.

He had worked out the answer to that one and it did not seem good:

Thunderbird 2 + Gordon = Crash & Bang & Fire & No more Thunderbird 2

Which in his eyes was as good as dying _himself_. Well, not that bad - he wouldn't be able to kill Gordon then.

To be perfectly honest, since Thunderbird 4 had been damaged a few days before, during a rescue mission, Gordon had been insufferable aka being unbelievably annoying and pranking everyone practically non-stop, only pausing to eat, sleep and feed his fish. Although Virgil and Scott had come to the conclusion that their younger sibling wasn't even sleeping – whoever had introduced Gordon to the coffee machine was going to pay dearly – and they wondered _why_ Alan was hiding?

Closing his eyes, he let sleep claim him. It seemed like five minutes later that an alert started ringing in his ear, warning him to an in-coming call and the hologram of his immediate older brother was there.

"What?" Virgil moaned. "I'm _sleeping_."

"Well I can see that," John grinned and then frowned, scrutinising his brother's appearance. "Dude, you look like death warmed up. You need chocolate."

Virgil propped himself up. Why did he have to have a brother pestering him every single time he wanted to sleep? Oh someone had it in for him somewhere, he was sure of it…

"Okay…a), why is your answer to absolutely everything damn chocolate, and b) go away!"

John held up his in a mock plea for mercy. "Hey, relax. And stop insulting chocolate, or else I'll have to get EOS to control '5 whilst I come down and murder you. Although," He added as Virgil yawned again. "That may not be necessary – you'll probably die before I get there with the way you look right now."

"Gee, thanks. That makes me feel so much better." He wasn't normally sarcastic, instead leaving that to Alan, and occasionally Scott (it was obvious to the rest of them where the youngest Tracy brother had picked the habit up from) but he couldn't help wishing John would _go away_.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." John told him. Staring at his younger brother, John couldn't help but feel a little concerned. _If it's anything other than he's just tired, then Scott will pick up on it,_ he thought to himself. _Geez, that guy's got eyes like a hawk when it comes to one of us being unwell or upset. It's kinda scary._ "Virg, seriously, are you okay? Because no kidding, you don't look well."

"Well for God's sake, don't tell Scooter."

"Virgil." John raised an eyebrow at him and Virgil tried to refrain from laughing. _John and his eyebrow…oh man_ …

"I'm just tired." He sighed as John looked at him doubtfully. "Johnny, I'm being serious. Going out on rescues non-stop for forty-eight hours does kinda do that to you. Anyway, I'm the medic here."

"Fine, if you say so." Personally, John wasn't convinced – Gordon had come down with some sort of flu a couple of weeks before, and although he'd been cleared for duty again, because he co-piloted Thunderbird 2, Virgil was the most at risk of getting the flu himself. Maybe he'd mention it to Scott, or Grandma. No, not Grandma, she'd only worry and try to feed him, and God knows that genuinely would kill him off! He'd tell Scott, and then keep an eye on Virgil himself as well.

"Johnny, why _are_ you calling?"

"Scott's calling some sort of meeting in the lounge, and he needs you there."

"Why?"

"Um, to take part in the meeting."

"More like to save his butt when the Terrible Two get bored."

John gave him _the eyebrow_ again and Virgil sighed dramatically. "Fine, fine, I'm going."

"Oh, and Virg?" John called after him as Virgil headed for the door.

"Yeah?"

"Get some rest later okay? Let Gordon fly '2?"

"As if!"

"Then if Thunderbird 1 isn't needed, let Scott fly with him."

"Maybe." Virgil agreed, and shrugged. "I'll just have to hope we don't get any rescue calls."

* * *

Scott was beginning to regret calling the meeting, but it clearly had to be done. If anything then it would keep Gordon out of trouble. Alan was the teenager, surely he was meant to be the one in trouble? Although Gordon would be eternally five-years-old, he reflected and then jumped as someone sat down next him.

"Oh man! That was priceless!" Alan sniggered at him as he tried to pretend he hadn't been scared. He preferred to call it: merely surprised at sudden entry of very exhausted and ill looking brother…wait a second…exhausted? Unwell? Huh? When had this happened?

"Virgil," He began. "Are you-"

"I'm here! Did you _miiiisssss_ meeee? _Weeeellll_ don't worriiieeee! Gordon Tracy has arrived!"

"Gordon." Virgil muttered.

"What?"

"Shut up, I have a headache."

"Aww, but I-" Gordon fell silent as Scott gave him a warning look. If he didn't shut up, then he was going to get his butt kicked by an annoyed older brother, and he didn't mean Virgil…

"So," Alan began, looking like an over-eager puppy-dog. "What's this meeting about?"

"We need to do some team-building work." Scott told him and Gordon grinned madly.

"Cool, yeah, let's have a prank war!"

This time it wasn't just Virgil who groaned. John hid from view of the camera up on '5 and got pelted with bagels by EOS who seemed find the entire situation hilarious, Scott had one of his famous face-palm moments, Virgil buried his head in his hands, wondering if he wished hard enough Gordon would somehow magically be muted and Alan sighed, throwing a cushion at his immediate older brother.

"Actually, I was more thinking along the lines of Survival Training." Scott winced as silence fell across the island, so much so that you could hear a pin drop.

"Survival Training?" Kayo repeated as Brains stared at Scott in bemusement.

"Oh my, isn't that dangerous?" Grandma asked, worry evident in her voice.

 _I knew I should never have suggested this_ … "Not really Grandma." Virgil replied for him, looking slightly more awake.

"Cool!" Alan exclaimed excitedly. "Can I do it?"

"Survival Training is done in pairs Alan," John explained. "And besides, you have school work."

Alan slumped back in his chair. "You don't say that when you send me flying off into Space in a giant red rocket."

"Yeah, Thunderbird 3 is so un-cool." Gordon couldn't resist the opportunity Alan had given him.

"What? Hell no! '3 is the best! Anyway, at least I don't have a tiny yellow mutant banana for a Thunderbird."

"He's got you there Gordy," John announced mischievously, safe in the knowledge you can't hit a hologram.

Gordon glared across the lounge at him, emitting a war cry as he started hitting Alan with cushions.

"Scotty, help me!" Alan yelped and Scott gave Virgil a pleading look.

"What did I say Johnny? I said: Scott will only want me at the meeting to save his butt when the Terrible Two get bored. You owe me twenty bucks."

"What the- just no. I did not agree to a bet!" John protested.

"Yeah you did. Um…mentally."

"Whatever."

"Guys!" Scott tried to maintain order when a loud bang came from the other side of the room. Alan and Gordon froze, turning to see Kayo sitting back down, placing the massive book back on its shelf.

"Carry on Scott," She announced, unable to keep a smile off her face at the terrified look Alan was now giving her.

"Uh, yeah, okay. So, Gordon, you're doing Survival Training. And we'll pick the other poor unfortunate person out the hat."

"I…um…h-have a meeting in….um…New York!" Brains told him quickly and Kayo pretended to have important upgrades to install on Thunderbird S.

"You know, technically, as I'm a hologram, you can't put my name in the hat."

"John."

"Who's that?" John asked them in mock confusion. "Never heard of the guy. I'm called…uh…"

"Pete."

"EOS! Stop calling me Pete! You know I hate that pompous scientist guy!"

"What?" Scott stared at his younger sibling, shaking his head. "John, you're a lost cause."

"Too much time in Space. Think of it as a type of madness brought on by being pelted with too many bagels."

EOS started sulking again.

"So…" For the first time in a week, Gordon was being serious again. "Who's coming with me?"

"Um…" Scott closed his eyes. "Everyone move seats."

"Ready!" Alan called out.

"Then, the poor guy picked to go with Gordon to spend two days in the Wilderness, is-" Scott opened his eyes and blinked as he realised who he was pointed at. Just the last person he'd wanted to choose…

"I was wrong." Virgil sighed as Scott looked at him worriedly. "Things can get worse."

"Virg, I'll choose again."

"That's not fair!" Alan muttered. "Why should I have to go instead of Virgil?"

"Who says you will?"

"Because Scott has to stay here, and Brains, Kayo and Grandma are gone. Unless Gordon feels like going by himself?"

"Alan, no one goes by themselves. It's a team exercise, that's kinda the point of it." John pointed out.

"I'll go," Virgil muttered, before leaving the room, Gordon and Alan exchanging glances before disappearing to continue their war from earlier.

"Is he okay?" John asked Scott, motioning to where Virgil had been a few minutes before.

"I don't know. I don't want to send him out there, but he's so goddam stubborn. If I'd known he wasn't well, then I wouldn't have even suggested Survival Training."

"This is Virg we're talking about. He'll be fine." John reassured him, avoiding the _'_ _seriously?'_ look that Scott was currently giving him.

"Maybe," Scott sighed, standing up. "I'd better let Gordon know the rules for Survival Training."

"Which are?"

"That everyone survives." Laughing as John stared at him, he added: "Gordon and Virgil, with just each other for company? Are you kidding me?"

"True. Oh well, hopefully I'll still three younger brothers at the end of the week."

"It should take them two days and one night to reach the pick-up point." Scott told him.

"Where're you taking them anyway?"

Scott grinned at him. "The Amazon. Rainforest."

"That has spiders," John pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Well of _course_ it has spiders Johnny, they don't have pest control in the middle of nowhere."

"So…you're putting Virgil in a place where there are _giant_ and _poisonous_ spiders?"

"Yup," Scott agreed cheerfully.

"Isn't that a…little _risky_? You know how he freaks out over spiders? And with Gordon there? Why don't you just kill the poor guy off?"

"You know, I've changed my mind. _You're_ going with Gordon instead."

John hurriedly ended the transmission, leaving Scott in the lounge by himself.

 _I won_ _der if I have kinda made a mistake over this whole team-work thing? Nah, they'll be fine…I hope_.

* * *

"What the hell? Alan, get off of me! Hey! No, that is _sooo_ unfair! Scott, tell him to un-blind fold me right now!"

Virgil glanced up and had to clench his fists in a desperate attempt not to laugh as Alan marched Gordon onto the flight deck, complete with blind-fold.

"What d'you think Virg? I personally think I should have added hand-cuffs, but Scott said that would be a little _extreme_."

Gordon attempted to glare at the direction his little brother's voice appeared to be coming from, and ended up walking straight into a wall.

"Sorry," Scott told him. "But you know the rules."

"What rules?" Virgil asked him, still not happy about having to be flown to the middle of nowhere and then being dumped there with just his younger (and extremely _annoying_ ) brother for company.

"Um…yeah, you see, you have to blind-folded too." Alan sounded a little too happy about that, Virgil noted, and carefully stuck out his foot, sending the teenager flying into the air and then collapsing into a seat, glaring back at him. Virgil shrugged, feigning innocence.

"Seriously?" _Oh dude, that was not my voice. I did not just sound like a whiny little kid_!

"Yep. Standard procedure so you can't see any rivers or stuff that might help you on the way there," John explained. _Wait a sec, when did_ he _get here_?

The hologram image of his older sibling flickered for a moment, before John was back again. "Sorry Alan, but you have to go."

"Aww, but I wanna see Gordon get annoyed when I shove him in the- ooph! _Hey_ , Sco-ott!"

"Watch it kiddo, they're not meant to know anything, remember?" Scott warned him and Alan grinned again, before attempting to blind-fold Virgil.

"Oh yeah."

"Alan." John reminded him. "There's a satellite in trouble. They've been hit by some space debris, and they've taken some damage. No-one's hurt, but they're losing oxygen, and they're falling out of orbit. You need to collect them, and stop that satellite from falling to earth."

"FAB. Have fun guys!" Alan finally finished with the blind-fold and Virgil blinked experimentally. Everything was completely black, and it had just dawned on him that it would Scott flying Thunderbird 2. Not that he was worried about his brother's flying capabilities, hell no, but he was still personally irritated that he couldn't fly his own Thunderbird. And to be a passenger on-board? That was just rubbing it in.

The familiar rumbling of '2's engines sounded, and Gordon gave up on trying to get off the blind-fold.

"Hey, want to hear a joke?"

"No!"

* * *

For a few seconds, everything seemed calm, and peaceful. He was just falling through the air, with the wind rushing past him and howling in his ears, and his parachute stopping him from crashing to the ground. The sun was shining, and the clouds were tinged with apricot colour reflected from the sunset.

Then he hit the water, and boy was it cold. The parachute was now not helping as he was getting caught up in it, and _greeeaaat_ , now he couldn't reach the surface.

Where was Gordon when you needed him? The corners of his vision were fading to darkness here, and he did _not_ like it at all. Actually, how had this happened? One minute Scott had been wishing him luck and then his older brother had shoved him out of Thunderbird 2, with the parachute, and then he fallen through the air, straight into an incredibly deep pool, or lake or something underneath a waterfall. Which was cold. Incredibly cold. That was weird – he was in Brazil, wasn't it meant to warm or something? The tiredness he still hadn't fully shaken off was working against him…and he was sinking and…

Ow. Just…ow.

"Virg? Dammit Virgil! Wake up!" Something hit him in the back and he coughed up water, finding it easier to breathe. Ah, yes, he kinda liked breathing.

And now he was able to see properly again…well, at least enough to vaguely make out the figure standing above him, blonde hair dripping with water and amber eyes wide with concern.

'Hey Gordon,' he tried to say, but it came out as a sort of weird groaning noise. Great – where'd his voice go? Damn this sucked.

"Virgil? Are you okay?" Gordon sounded un-naturally serious and it was making him laugh.

"Ow." He muttered.

"I think you lost your backpack by the way," Gordon told him, grinning as he realised Virgil was alright.

"Oh that's just great," Virgil groaned. "Now I have to rely on you."

"Hey, get over it, this is meant to a team-building exercise anyway, Scott told us that, as did John. Plus, I just saved your sorry little life, so you owe me big time bro."

"I…oh whatever." He frowned up at the darkening skies above them. They'd had to fly back to the island and collect Kayo as she needed to follow a trail on the Hood in Boston, and Brains was working on Thunderbird S, which had set them behind schedule as Scott had decided to drop off Kayo first, before flying back down to Brazil, which would have taken half the time had John not alerted them to a rescue call in Mexico with some fire taking place. It was a pretty simple job – fly in – put out fire – done, so Scott had completed it himself, and then they had finally got on their way to the Amazon, hence why it was now getting dark instead of just getting light.

"We need to find shelter," Gordon commented, and Virgil tried desperately not to laugh at the serious expression that once more had appeared on his brother's face. Although he was used to it on rescues, he wasn't used to it when they weren't saving people. Plus he'd just realised the perfect tease.

"You know," he began in delight. "At least we won't need a torch or any other light."

"What? Why?" Gordon frowned at him, whilst attempting to lift the backpack up from the rock it was placed on.

"Because your shirt is bright enough to light up the entire rainforest."

"Remind again why I bothered to save you? Why I didn't just let you drown?"

Virgil shrugged. "Beats me."

"There's meant to be a map in here of where we need to head to…the, err…"

"Pickup point?" He suggested.

"Yup, that's it," Gordon agreed. The faint sounds of rumbling thunder in the distance echoed around the rainforest and he started grinning madly. "Hey, this is going to be fun."

"As long as you don't start making jokes from the back of penguin wrappers, then I'll survive," Virgil commented grimly, smacking at a mosquito that was attempting to land on him. "Ha! Take that you evil little vampire bug!" He smirked as the squashed form of the mosquito slid to the ground and then the first few droplets of rain started to fall.

"Okay…I'm guessing this is when the survival training part kicks in, right? We're in a jungle, with night-time approaching, and we're soaking wet with a thunderstorm approaching."

"Yeah, I can't believe Scott actually agreed to let us do this." The familiar pattern of 'brother bonding' as it had been nick-named by John during their childhood was setting in, creating a relaxed atmosphere, despite the approaching thunderstorm. Being wet with lightening around was not going to be a good idea, Virgil realised. They needed to find shelter.

"Where's that map?" Gordon wondered aloud, before grabbing the water bottle. "Come on, collect the rainwater!"

"You are…wait, did you just have a good idea?" Virgil stared at him in mock shock for a couple of seconds before admitting that his brother did have a point, and grabbing the other water bottle. "Oh great…we have nothing to eat…apart from one of Grandma's cookies."

"Geez, I know Alan finds me annoying sometimes, but does he really have to try and kill us off?" Gordon whined. "Seriously, this is begin to annoy me – argh!"

One moment the aquanaut had been sitting on the rock, moaning to Virgil (who had stopped listening the moment his brother had got half-way through his sentence) and then the next he'd attempted to hit a mosquito (and had come out more than less successfully than Virgil had) before falling into the pool, the backpack weighing him down and had literally disappeared.

 _Okay_ , Virgil thought to himself. So he may find his younger brother absolutely irritating beyond belief, and he may sometimes wish that someone would please just shut the guy up, but he was still his brother, still his co-pilot, still his right-hand man, and still, in the end, one of his best friends.

Which was one of the reasons he was currently freaking out. In all fairness, he had a point. He was now stuck, on his own take note, in the middle of a rainforest, soaking wet during a thunderstorm, complete with lightning, with his younger brother missing. Literally missing. Like he'd been abducted by aliens. Whoa, he had spent _waaay_ too much time around Alan. _Aliens_? Oh _come_ on.

"Gordon!" He yelled, leaping to his feet and all but throwing himself into the pool, realising a fraction of a second too late that would probably be a bad idea – hell, Gordon had been in the Olympics, and he'd disappeared – plus Virgil had already nearly drowned once, and he had no wish to repeat the experience.

In typical Tracy style though, he was too late to realise that, and found himself in trouble yet again – and they wondered _where_ Alan got it from? He skidded on the slippery surface of the rocks, grabbing his own pack as he realised what was going to happen, and then went plunging into the darkness. Again. And again realised he was all but drowning. Oh man, this sucks…I'm going to kill Scott when we get back…ow…okaay…what the hell just happened?

What neither of them had noticed was that the waterfall and pool led into a small river, which was probably one of the many streams which fed the Amazon. The force of the water falling at such speed from the waterfall itself straight into the river meant that a powerful current was created, sucking everything out into the stream. Unfortunately for Virgil, that meant he was bound to get sucked under, and as much as he could swim, he wasn't as good as it as a certain younger sibling, so yet again he found himself in the darkness.

 _I am really not enjoying this entire experience. Scott man, you had better run for your life when I get back…or go up and spend some sibling bonding time with John on Thunderbird 5 until I have stopped wanting to kill you._

What sort of crazy idea was Survival Training anyway?

Seriously.

Ugh.

And there was light. A harsh, horrible, orange and yellow light that he instantly took a dislike to.

Oh wait, no. That was Gordon's shirt.

He knew that. He hated that shirt of course, they all did (with the exception of Gordon and Alan – Alan just found it fun to irritate them all by actually complimenting the damn thing) but he was kinda getting sick of this whole _little brother keeps saving my life_ thing. It meant he owed Gordon, and that was never a good thing as far as a Tracy was concerned.

"Virg man, you really have to stop this entire drowning thing. It's not exactly great."

Well, he may be with Gordon (secretly he quite liked that – his younger brother was great company, with seeming never ending cheerfulness and knowing exactly how to cheer Virgil up) but at least he was dry here. Talking of which, where was here?

He opened his eyes again, surprised at how much effort that took. Geez, he kinda wished they had a radio so that they could just go home, that was how damn tired he felt right now.

"Hey sleeping beauty, welcome back to the land of the living." Somehow, Virgil assumed from the information available to him, Gordon had made some sort shelter out of branches while Virgil had been unconscious. He really wasn't being very helpful was he?

Well that was going to stop right now. They needed a fire, before the creatures of the night came out. Ooh, that had sounded strangely poetical. Weird.

"Well this is weird."

"What?" Virgil muttered, staring at the fire. The damn mosquitoes were back with a vengeance – it had to be Karma for him killing one earlier. Stupid things…still, at least _he_ wasn't leaping round a hotel room with a shoe attempting to kill _all_ of them _and_ failing miserably *cough* John *cough*.

"I haven't even thought about pranking you in the short time we've been here." Gordon frowned. "That is just awkward…ow!"

"Yeah," Virgil commented dryly. "If you put your hand near a fire, you do tend to get burnt."

"You and Scott didn't get burnt when John dared you to do it when you were Alan's age." Gordon retorted.

 _Aww crap, he's got me there_.

"We have secret powers. We're…uh…"

"Aliens."

"No, that's Johnny."

The conversation died out and they sat for a couple of moments in silence.

"Well, now we know where we're meant to be heading, you should probably turn in." Virgil told him, frowning when he didn't get a sarcastic reply in return. "Gords?"

"Stop drowning every damn time we go near water. Please?"

God damn it, it was the so un-Gordon please that did it, and it was then that he realised what was actually troubling his brother.

"You know, when you seriously annoy me and I tell you to get lost…" Gordon began.

"I think your language was a bit more colourful than _get lost_."

"Whatever."

They both grinned.

"That's twice Virg. Twice that I've had to save your stupid life because you seem determined to get yourself killed! Do you even know what that feels like? I thought you were dead, and it was all my fault."

Ah, and there was the confession. To be honest though, Virgil thought to himself, I wasn't actually trying to get killed. It was more like I was trying to save Gordon, except it didn't really turn out that way…yeah, I must have really freaked the kid out. Oh man, I'm never gonna be able to stop referring to him and Alan as kids.

"Just…." Gordon stopped talking and silence fell again, apart from the stupid, stupid mosquito that was landing on Gordon's arm…

 ** _SLAP_**!

" _OW_!"

"I'm _sorry_!"

"What the _hell_ was that for?"

"There was a _mosquito_!"

" _Where_?"

"It's gone now, I _killed_ it!"

"You nearly _broke_ my arm for crying out loud!"

"You nearly damaged _my_ eyesight the first time you wore that shirt, but I haven't complained."

"That is _such_ a lie! You have complained so many times it's unbelievable."

Okay, _that_ was true, they had all nagged at him non-stop for a week after he'd bought it, and it probably hadn't been fair.

But it _had_ nearly damaged his eyesight…

Okay, it hadn't, but _still_!

"Virgil, I'm being serious. Okay, that's weird for me, but…yeah…"

Okay, time for a brotherly hug.

So what if they were in the middle of a rainforest soaking wet with mosquitoes declaring World war 3 on them?

He was still Gordon's big brother.

* * *

"What the hell is _that_?"

"It's a type of fruit, get over it."

"It looks like some sort of worm." Virgil eyed the _thing_ in his younger brother's hands with deep suspicion and tried not to gag as his sibling actually ate it. Just…yuck.

 ** _SLAP_**!

 ** _THUD_**!

" _OW_!"

" _Sorry_."

"Let me guess," Gordon asked him, a trace of sarcasm creeping into his voice. "Another mosquito?"

Virgil nodded innocently at him. "Yup."

"Eat this." Gordon chucked another of the _things_ at him and he stared back at his brother with wide eyes.

"Me? Eat this? It's worse than Grandma's cooking!"

"Just eat it, okay? Geez, am I the older one here, or are you?"

Virgil raised an eyebrow at him. ' _Seriously?'_

Gordon stared back. ' _Seriously_.'

Closing his eyes, he swallowed it and then frowned. It actually tasted pretty good…a bit like strawberries. He _liked_ strawberries!

"Alright, let's get a move on."

"FAB!"

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Just one?"

"No."

"Oh please?" Gordon gave him a begging look. "Hey, come on, you'll like this one."

"I highly doubt that."

"What?"

"Gordon, your jokes are lame."

"Hey! My jokes are not lame!"

Yes they are, Virgil thought to himself. Okay, that was harsh, I'd better let the kid have his fun. One day he might actually say a joke that's alright. God knows when that will be though. The year 4000?

"Oh go on then," He sighed as Gordon tried to give him a puppy-dog expression.

"Thanks." Gordon took a deep breath, his eyes shining as he gleefully began his joke. Virgil tried to block him out, but curiosity made him listen. "What's the difference between a fish and a piano?"

"What?" Virgil shifted the backpack onto his other shoulder. "God only knows. Which way now?"

"Just answer the question!"

"One's alive and is horrible and slimy and the other's a beautiful musical instrument. Now where are we meant to be heading?"

"Insult fish anymore times and I won't tell you," Gordon muttered, sulking before frowning down at the map. "Um…left…I think…" He added under his breath. Virgil nodded, changing direction and Gordon jogged after him.

"Want to hear the rest of the joke?"

"Not particularly."

"Okay, so what's the difference between a fish and a piano? Well you can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish!"

For a moment, it seemed to Virgil that even the birds stopped and stared at his brother in shock and horror.

"That," Virgil began slowly, sitting down on a branch in disbelief. "Was possibly the worst joke known to man-kind."

"So….you don't get it?"

"Of course I _get_ it Gords, that's kinda the _point_ – whoa!" The roaring noise that they'd been hearing for the last half-an-hour had become deafening, and it appeared that they had just discovered why. Right in front of them, was one of the largest rivers either of them had ever seen, and the force of the roaring water that was churning and white with foam whipped up by the force of current made for not very great thoughts.

"Please don't tell me we have to cross that." Virgil groaned, closing his eyes. "This just keeps getting better and better."

"Have another of the fruit-things," Gordon instructed him. "They taste a helluva lot better than the stupid ration bars."

"Thanks." Virgil accepted it, still staring at the river ahead of them in shock. After nearly drowning twice, knocked out, bitten by ridiculous mosquitoes, tired and literally relying on Gordon to actually stay alive (he hadn't realised how good his brother was at identifying edible fruits and plants – plus an unfortunate fish in a stream, although Virgil had been the one to light a fire), he couldn't actually believe they had to get past a river like this. Scott was out of his mind! As was John! And Alan…wait, no, Alan wouldn't have had any part to play in the chosen place or pick-up sight – apart from maybe their less than dignified entry to the jungle.

"Um…Virg?"

"What?"

Gordon was staring at him in dismay. "I've been reading the map upside down. We're on the complete wrong side of the forest. We're a day away from the pickup sight."

Silence fell, and then all hell broke lose as a furious argument broke out.

* * *

"I swear if you make one more stupid joke I'm going to kill you."

Surprisingly Gordon genuinely did fall silent. The sound of water dripping off leaves onto the forest floor and the sound of their footsteps as they trekked through the rainforest was the only sound that broke the silence. Virgil snuck a glance at his brother, frowning when he saw the quiet acceptance on his sibling's face.

"What's wrong?"

"Um, hey, you know, you're probably not well, and don't say otherwise because you've been half drowned in the last 24 hours and you looked like death before that and now we have to trek halfway across a goddam _rainforest_ because I keep messing up. And Alan will have forgotten to feed my fish," Gordon finished miserably. "He did when I had to meet up with Penelope in London."

"John will remind Scott and he'll feed them. And Gordon?"

"What?"

"I don't actually mind your jokes. You didn't mess up either, alright? We were both tired this morning…" _Annnnd_ hungry, he added mentally. "So to be honest I don't blame you. And I'm not ill, so stop saying that! You're as bad as Johnny."

"Okay…"

 _Annnnd_ time for another bro hug. Aww, sometimes he didn't mind being the peacemaker of the family. It had its perks.

And as the smile remerged on his brother's face, he decided that although his sibling frequently irritated him, messed up his stuff, ruined the paint-work on Thunderbird 2 and told pathetic jokes (yes, he had lied – the jokes were pathetic), he wouldn't exchange any of it for the world. Because he still was his best friend, co-pilot, brother and family. He wouldn't exchange that for the world.

* * *

"So."

"So what?" Virgil glared up at Scott. "I'm trying to sleep here man. Go away."

"No."

"Okay, then I'll get Gordon to tell you lame jokes until you die of boredom."

"Go ahead, just remember who'll be Field Commander then. Not John, he's up on Thunderbird 5."

"Then it'd be me…oh great. So I can't kill you if you don't leave me alone?"

"Nope," Scott agreed cheerfully. "So, how was it out there?"

"Hot, wet, miserable…too many of the vampire insects of the bug world aka mosquitoes…and I nearly drowned twice. Oh, and I learnt I could trust Gordon with my life. And that he's not such bad company after all and that I'm pretty glad he's my co-pilot…and what are you grinning at?"

"I won the bet with John. He bet me ten bucks that you two would come out of this still finding each other unbelievably annoying, and I've won, because you've realised he's your friend as well as your brother."

"Scooter, if this is a prep talk then I'm not in the mood."

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Scott told him, leaving the room.

Ah sleep, Virgil thought to himself when an alarm started blaring.

"Oh for f- John!"

* * *

 ** _Was that any good? I don't know, but hey, at least I tried...right? By the way, a certain person sent me a prompt ages ago and I am so sorry! I thought I'd published it but looking back I can see that I haven't. It'll be published by April, I promise I'll try._**

 ** _Anyway, loved this, didn't like it, liked it a bit, absolutely hated it and want to kill me, let me know in a review!_**

 ** _Kat x._**


End file.
